Hey
guys!
So lately
I haven’t been updating because I’ve been so busy! Dallas is a huge city and
I’ve been exploring a lot! I went to Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament and
that was amazing. I’m not joking! I ate at a fabulous banquet in an European
Castle and watched stallions dance and falcons soar. And I witnessed knights in
jousting matches. While I did some other things like go to museums, bars, and
even watched American football for the first time in my life, the Medieval
Times was the best! I got a little carried away, but what I’m going to write
about today is a little serious matter. The Vietnam War.
In
the early 1950s, the US involvement in Vietnam increased significantly, despite
being slow coming. The American official military involvement lasted for 10
years, from 1965 to 1975. South Vietnam signed an economic and military
aid treaty with the US in 1961, which led to the arrival of US support troops
and the formation of the US Military Assistance Command a year later. It was
not until June 1965 that someone had managed to establish control in South
Vietnam – until Nguyen Cao Ky became premier. At the request of President
Lyndon B. Johnson military aid from the US increased, especially after August
7, 1964 when the US Senate passed the Tonkin Gulf resolution. This was a
response to the fact that North Vietnamese forces fired upon two US destroyers
stationed in the Gulf of Tonkin in Vietnam earlier in 1964. It was first in
early 1965 that the United States started air raids on North Vietnam, and by
1966 there were around 190 000 US troops in South Vietnam. Against the
will of the Vietnamese people and to support minority Vietnamese interests tied
to American interests, America officially entered the war in 1965. The
United States and South Vietnam were unable to defeat North Vietnamese forces
and the Viet Cong heavy bombing, massive US military aid and growing US troop
commitment in 1969. The States kind of didn’t have a choice in the matter of
joining the South, but that changed.
A
large segment of the population in America came to be opposed to the US
involvement in South Vietnam during the war. Only a third of the American
population believed that they had not made a mistake by sending troops to fight
in Vietnam. I would probably be one of those who opposed because when you’re
involved in other countries wars, nothing goes your way. As public opinions
steadily turned against the war, only a third of the Americans were strongly
against the Vietnam War. There were mostly young people who protested because
they were the ones being drafted, while others were against it for other
reasons.
During
the final years of the Vietnamization the US were beginning to drastically reduce
their troops in South Vietnam. Many troops were removed from the region, and on
5 March 1971, the US returned the first unit deployed to South Vietnam – the 5th Special
Forces Group. When North Vietnamese forces attacked Route 14 in the Phuoc Long
Province on 13 December 1974, the Congress were desperately asked for funds to
re-supply and assist the South before it was overrun, but they refused. The
South Vietnamese had twice the number of armoured cars and tanks and three
times so much artillery as their opposition at the start of 1975, not to
mention their 1 400 aircrafts. The NVA troops entered the city of Saigon
on 30 April 1975 and at 11:30 AM local time, a tank crashed through the gates
and raised the Viet Cong flag above it. President Duong Van Mingh surrendered,
and the war was officially over. A total 3 403 100 Americans had
served in the region of South East Asia during the war, and there were a total
of 5 773 190 deceased if you combine enemies and allies. Combined
enemy and allied there were 2 122 244 that had been killed, and
58 169 of them were Americans. It had been dropped 6 727 084
tons of bombs which were a lot if you compare it to the
2 700 000 tons that were dropped on Germany by allied forces during
WWII. At the time the war had cost the US $352 000 000 000. I
did say that joining the war was stupid. Not only did it cost them a huge
amount of money, but they also lost many of their men. The men that did came
back were never the same, and one of the most common PTSD causes is war
traumas. The PTSD numbers were high after the Vietnam war.
So
I hoped you enjoyed this post! Like I’ve said many times before I’ve always
enjoyed history and I love learning new stuff. ;) I’m probably going to post
just one or two more times before I end this blog when I go home again. L Sad but I miss my home.
-Hana♥
Sources:
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